He ran away from his village at the age of 13 due to his father's fierce scoldings for his problems.[2] He first worked in an oil mart, then in a private wine shop as a waiter and then ended up in drama where he started developing his skills.[3]
He made his acting debut with the Tamil film Oru Koyil Iru Dheepangal of 1979 even though officially his first film was the Malayalam film Ithikkara Pakki, which was released in 1980.[4][5] He slowly entered the Tamil film industry in small characters and finally landed a good role in the film Malaiyoor Mambattiyan. He has also acted in many popular films as comedian in the Tamil film industry. He usually appears in films with Goundamani in a slapstickdouble act. Together, they formed a comic pair in many Tamil films.[6]
In 2019, Senthil has started acting in Tamil tele-serials making his debut with Sun TV's Rasaathi.[7]
